If you’re new to product management, marketing, sales or leadership in an industrial B2B supply chain – this book is the best place to start.

Key Concepts

Product Life Cycle

Moore’s first chapter introduces the key tenant of the book – the Technology Life Cycle Adoption Model. A new product encounters customers across a distribution of time periods. The first customers to encounter and purchase a product behave differently than the last customers. Moore’s central contribution to product management is breaking these customers out into different psycho-graphic buckets, labeling the buckets and stating that the populations are not continuous.

Whole Product

The Whole Product Concept i introduced early in the book – but in Chapter 5 it gets the attention that its due. Moore’s book is about introducing the Technology Life Cycle Adoption model and combining it with the Whole Product Concept – which when used over time shows what is needed to win when introducing new products. He adds to these two concepts some missing definitions and clarity – but it is this combination shown over the maturation of a product that make his contribution to marketing so important.

“The key to leaving the chasm behind, however, is to stop custom developments and institutionalize the whole product, to build to a set of standards that the marketplace as a whole can support.” Chapter 8, Location 3117

Definition of a Market

Moore defines a market very clearly – with the requirement that to be in a market, the buyers must be able to communicate with each other. Without that ability, then they are not in the same market.

“market, which we will define, for the purposes of high tech, as a set of actual or potential customers for a given set of products or services who have a common set of needs or wants, and who reference each other when making a buying decision.” Chapter 2, Loc 567

Focus

The beauty of combining the Technology Life Cycle Adoption model and the Whole Product Concept is that it shows that success depends on winning early markets. They cannot be bypassed, or lightly won en masse. A beachhead must be identified and won.

“Then we must get very practical about focusing on one application, making sure that it is indeed a compelling one for at least one visionary who is already familiar with us, and then committing to that visionary, in return for his or her support, to removing every obstacle to getting that application adopted.” Chapter 2 Loc 772

Data and Decisions

In any organization there is always a desire for more information. There is always some question that the product manager ‘should’ have the answer to, but that would require months of delay. Moore calls out this ‘fog of war’ and addresses it many times in the book.

The Importance of Control

Moore doesn’t pitch about grand reasons to benefit society or the righteousness of entrepreneurship – instead he advocates that those launching products should focus their efforts on creating and using control over their decisions.

“If you leave your customer’s success to chance, you are giving up control over your own success.” Chapter 5, Location 1860

Solve the customers problems in order to solve your own.

“Until profitability is achieved, nothing is secure, and your destiny is not under your own control. This argues for early adoption.” Chapter 8, Location 3055

Obligations

Obligations are brought up most clearly in the last chapter, but they are preceded by clever foreshadowing. This ties to ethics. We cannot cross the chasm by making promises that are unsustainable.

“That is, they promise a level of performance or reward that, if delivered, would simply destroy the enterprise.” Chapter 8, Location 2953

Sequencing

We can do anything we want – but we can’t do everything. Moore returns several times to ROI, financials and other metrics that force the product designer to focus on a first market, and then sequence the remaining markets.

“How long will it take before I can achieve a reasonably predictable ROI from an acceptably large mainstream market?” Chapter 8, Location 3029

I put sequencing last – but that might be because it is inherent in the Technology Life Cycle Adoption model. There is a certain brilliance in taking the normal curve and applying it to a time series. Moore did that. With a time series, and with psycho-graphic grouping of the areas under the curve, we have a need for sequencing. One group must come before the next.

Chapter by Chapter, Page by Page, Screen by Screen

“… the High-Tech Marketing Model. That model says that the way to develop a high-tech market is to work the curve left to right, focusing first on the innovators, growing that market, then moving on to the early adopters, growing that market, and so on, to the early majority, late majority, and even to the laggards.”

Moore’s whole first chapter is laying out the groundwork for his Technology Adoption Life Cycle. You knew it already – products encounter customers along a normal distribution – we just covered the topic above as the most crucial new concept in the book. The first customers are early adopters. Moore’s Chasm accurately predicts the future for new product launches – it is the success of the model that drove the success of the book.

Best Quotes from Chapter 2

“…market, which we will define, for the purposes of high tech, as a set of actual or potential customers for a given set of products or services who have a common set of needs or wants, and who reference each other when making a buying decision.” loc 567

Moore’s definition of a market – tucked away as an aside – is one of the best anywhere. Across 100s of marketing books there are many definitions, but his is clear and consistent.

“Because controlling expectations is so crucial, the only practical way to do business with visionaries is through a small, top-level direct sales force.” Loc 716

Business books have value when they give clear definitions (like above with markets) and when they are prescriptive about specific situations. New products need a direct sales force to succeed with the most likely group of buyers – early adopters.

“Visionaries are the ones who give high-tech companies their first big break. It is hard to plan for them in marketing programs, but it is even harder to plan without them.” Loc 725

Moore’s comments here echo the persuasion methods of Carnegie. Yes, the visionary is a hard person to win over – but woe to the company that decides to avoid visionaries.

“Then we must get very practical about focusing on one application, making sure that it is indeed a compelling one for at least one visionary who is already familiar with us, and then committing to that visionary, in return for his or her support, to removing every obstacle to getting that application adopted.” Loc 772

Focus, focus, focus. Too many modern products launch as the ‘AllTech’ with many applications and uses. Find one use with one market and validate that it works. Moore’s comments on focus and validation sets up Ries’s writing in The Lean Startup.

“If high-tech marketers do not take responsibility for seeing that the whole product solution is being delivered, then they are giving the skeptic an opening to block the sale.” 1003

Moore’s first chapter laid out his Technology Adoption Life Cycle and the second chapter showed its explanatory power. In Chapter 3, he shows how to win using the model. The D-Day invasion is Moore’s metaphor for successful marketing – here he is building off of Sun Tzu’s more ancient counsel from his chapter on Tactical Dispositions, “13… Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.” Don’t let the skeptic block the sale, be prepared. Moore is helping the reader launch a product that can survive the first three waves of buyer – from the early adopters to the pragmatist, and in so doing, cross the chasm. In Ries’s Lean Startup, we see how this can be done as effectively and with the lowest amount of risk.

Chapter 3: Best Quote(s)

“The consequences of being sales-driven during the chasm period are, to put it simply, fatal.” Chapter 3, Location 1160

Your goal in the chasm is to get through the chasm. If you aren’t sufficiently prepared and funded, then the need for sales will distract you from creating a reference-able customer base to get to the other side.

“The key to moving beyond one’s initial target niche is to select strategic target market segments to begin with. That is, target a segment that, by virtue of its other connections, creates an entry point into a larger segment. “ Chapter 3, Location 1237

The value here is in the strategic preparation and commitment. If you’ve framed the market correctly, then focusing on the segment will lead you across the chasm and onto other segments. Market sequence is the big decision in chasm strategy. Focus on the core market, then by virtue of having made good decisions, you can survive.

“Make a total commitment to the niche, and then do your best to meet everyone else’s needs with whatever resources you have left over.” Chapter 3, Location 1290

Focus on the early buyers – do whatever it takes to get them through their adoption risks. If those first accounts don’t purchase and succeed, then they can never become references and success stories for the rest of the market. To survive the chasm you must produce reference-able customers for the rest of the adoption cycle.

“It is not about the money you make from the first niche: It is the sum of that money plus the gains from all subsequent niches.” Chapter 3, Location 1347

Too often companies can become ROI focused and lose focus as they launch new products. ROI can be appropriate – but the “R” (Return!) must include all the future markets that can only be one if this first bowling pin falls.

“The critical attitude to maintain in all four of these challenges is that chasm-crossing represents a unique time in your enterprise’s history.” Chapter 3, Location 1463

If we’re asking our team to Cross the Chasm – the team deserves special rules so they can behave in different ways than the rest of our organization. Moore hits on these needs in his 2015 book Zone to Win (video summary).

Yes, more data can always be found – but will it lead to a better decision? Is the time spent uncovering better data worth the opportunity cost?

“Since, however, investment and time are two of your scarcest resources, cheaper and sooner are very desirable attributes in a target market scenario.” Chapter 4, Location 1653

If you can prove your product functions fast and cheap then this is always the preferred path. This is one of Ries’s main points in The Lean Startup.

“This means you can focus all your attention on the whole product, which is where it needs to be. Nail that and you win.” Chapter 4, Location 1683

Moore is being prescriptive – so listen closely – you must win the beachhead and the beachhead is won with the whole product.

“The enemy in the chasm is always time.” Chapter 4, Location 1688

Even the largest, oldest, wealthiest organizations don’t have infinite patience. “Beyond three years might as well be infinity…” I’d read a study that showed most purchasing / technical / front end engineers at customers were in their roles for an average of three years. (Typing this out, it feels like it is from Ries.) Which means that if you can’t win in 1.5 years, you should assume you’ll have to start over with a new buyer.

Just because your organization has patience does not mean that your customer will. And even if your customer does have patience – will the other product competing for their attention be so slow to demonstrate urgency? Move with speed and purpose.

The Whole Product Concept was introduced earlier in the book – but in Chapter 5 it gets the attention that its due. Moore’s book is about introducing the Technology Life Cycle Adoption model and combining it with the Whole Product Concept – which when used over time shows what is needed to win when introducing new products. He adds to these two concepts some missing definitions and clarity – but it is this combination shown over the maturation of a product that make his contribution to marketing so important.

Chapter 5: Best Quote(s)

“The concept is very straightforward: There is a gap between the marketing promise made to the customer—the compelling value proposition—and the ability of the shipped product to fulfill that promise. For that gap to be overcome, the product must be augmented by a variety of services and ancillary products to become the whole product.” Chapter 5, Location 1749

For a customer to buy – and as Moore calls out clearly – we are focused on the customer BUYING, not on the vendor SELLING – a certain set of things must be present. To buy a car, I’ve got to test drive. To test drive, I need wheels on the car. The list goes on – and finds similar constraints in the world of industrial B2B sales.

“In the simplified model there are only two categories: (1) what we ship and (2) whatever else the customers need in order to achieve their compelling reason to buy.” Chapter 5, Location 1813

Everything that is missing between the seller’s ‘Generic’ product – as it stands offered to the market – and what a customer needs to buy, is a constraint. We know from The Goal how to treat constraints.

“If you leave your customer’s success to chance, you are giving up control over your own success.” Chapter 5, Location 1860

Maybe the customer will buy without you doing that extra bit of work – but why leave it to chance? Maybe what they are telling you is what all of the other buyers – from the pragmatists to the laggards – need in order to purchase. Resolve the Whole Product needs and you can cross the chasm. Fail to resolve those needs and your effort will fail.

This is the death of most start-ups. The VP of sales has a long list of “not-a-NO”, but the list of paying accounts isn’t sufficiently long. Those that are buying require too much specialization such that there are never efficiencies of scale. Don’t leave your fate to chance. Cross the chams with intent – and do it by building out the Whole Product model for your beachhead customers.

Humanity plays games to create scenarios where there are clear winners and losers. Games let us test out what works and what does not without the violence and destruction of true fighting and warfare. If we are picking the game and defining the battle as we launch Moore’s new technology product, then we owe it to ourselves to pick a battle we will win.

The first market must be won, otherwise we will not cross the chasm. Pick a winnable battle. Define the battle so victory is certain.

Chapter 6: Best Quote(s)

“The fundamental rule of engagement is that any force can defeat any other force—if it can define the battle.” Chapter 6, Location 2088

Sun Tzu lays this out in Attack by Stratagem – the goal is to know yourself and know the opposition. Strategy is the use of this knowledge to create victory, tactics are how you create scenarios where you will win and the opposition loses.

“In our experience to date with developing an early market, competition has not come from competitive products so much as from alternative modes of operation.” Chapter 6, Location 2099

Persuading someone to change their work flow is hard, and it is one of the reasons why Moore’s use of The Whole Product model is so valuable. Imagine the early challenge of selling electric lamps and all the alternative modes of light that required very different skills to use.

“In sum, the pragmatists are loath to buy until they can compare. Competition, therefore, becomes a fundamental condition for purchase.” Chapter 6, Location 2114

Define your product in comparison to a product that is bought today, then use the Whole Product Model to uncover – and address – the weaknesses. Use customer feedback to prioritize what gets fixed first.

“Crossing the chasm, in this context, represents a transition from product-based to market-based values.” Chapter 6, Location 2139

There is a market for these kinds of goods. These buyers have common needs and have a common way of paying people to fix their needs. This is a big change from having a product and looking for people that might need it – your knowledge of the customers’ needs is much higher. Focus is required to know your customers’ needs.

“When most people think of positioning in this way, they are thinking about how to make their products easier to sell. But the correct goal is to make them easier to buy.” Chapter 6, Location 2361

Easier to sell is just marketing speak – and as Moore calls out – it comes across as slimy. Easier to buy involves anticipating the customers need, doing some of their work for them, and really attending to what is important to them. As Carnegie would put it – focus on what they care about.

Life guidance and business books can use many structures for their final chapter:

Repetition of the book structure, with a grand lesson.

Re-commitment of the principals of the book, with a charge to do more.

Taking the lessons of the book one step further – almost an abstraction of the concepts and anticipation of their impact.

Moore uses the third option to the fullest – he takes each concept a little bit farther, while also doubling pack to reiterate the importance of each concept. His persuasive concept is simpler than what Goldratt brought us with The Goal, which in some ways makes it a more complex topic to cover in a book. If it was simpler, he could use the chapter-lesson-repeat format that we find with Sun Tzu and Carnegie.

“That is, they promise a level of performance or reward that, if delivered, would simply destroy the enterprise.” Chapter 8, Location 2953

Before crossing the chasm, when dealing with early adopter customers, it can feel easy to create obligations that are later too costly to support. The obligations live on in the minds of the pioneer account managers that made them, even if the liabilities they create will bankrupt the business.

“The purpose of the post chasm enterprise is to make money.” Chapter 8, Location 2978

“Hockey stick curves are created by spreadsheets, a software tool that many have argued has driven some of the worst of the investment decisions of the past two decades.” Chapter 8, Location 3004

Industrial products grow with discrete buyers – and each qualification with a new buyer is a stair step that creates the option for incremental growth. ‘Hockey Sticks’ are possible with high transmission rates and huge pools of buyers.

“How long will it take before I can achieve a reasonably predictable ROI from an acceptably large mainstream market?” Chapter 8, Location 3029

Leaders have to plan for how much runway they will have to launch their products.

“Until profitability is achieved, nothing is secure, and your destiny is not under your own control. This argues for early adoption.” Chapter 8, Location 3055

As was said in the earlier chapter – it is crucial to control your fate as a new organization. Profitability is the only guarantee.

“The key to leaving the chasm behind, however, is to stop custom developments and institutionalize the whole product, to build to a set of standards that the marketplace as a whole can support.” Chapter 8, Location 3117

Unchecked growth metastasizes like cancer – there is no organization, there is no clear goal, and the product never ships. It must be checked – this is one of Ries’s major points.

“And so it is that a pioneer salesperson left unchecked can be highly disruptive and demoralizing to a sales organization looking to leave the chasm behind.” Chapter 8, Location 3117

The pioneer will struggle to see their commitments dropped. Routinized sales, driven by process and methods are a foreign concept to the types of account managers that deliver early adopters and help them make the crucial first purchase. The goal is for the organization to cross the chasm – not necessarily every member of the original team.

Leadership’s obligations are to the future team members and to ensuring there is a future team.

“Like authors, they are compelled to conduct their craft regardless of whether anyone will pay for it. As such, their negotiating position is fundamentally weak, and their normal compensation reflects it.” Chapter 8, Location 3238

This is a great aside on the siren song lure of writing and product innovation.

“Whole product R&D is driven not by the laboratory but by the marketplace.” Chapter 8, Location 3253

Innovating is as much about the Whole Product as it is about fundamental performance. Deliver on time. Improve the service-scape. Only when those conditions are met can a vendor earn the trust to put really disruptive innovation in to a customers’ hands.

“It prefers to assemble its creations from existing technologies and products rather than to invent new ones from scratch.” Chapter 8, Location 3253

Innovate from components – not from science projects. If you can’t identify all the predecessor innovations that lead to your ‘new’ concept, then the cost of coordination could be too high and the effort will fail.

“We began by isolating a fundamental flaw in the prevailing high-tech marketing model—the notion that rapid mainstream market growth could follow continuously on the heels of early market success.” Chapter 8, Location 3285\